NEW DELHI: The government has started a drive to bring all active workers of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme NREGS ) under the Aadhaar framework to bring down duplication under the scheme and prevent leakage of funds The rural development ministry, in consultation with the department of financial services, will organise camps in villages to seek consent of the beneficiaries for seeding their bank accounts to their Aadhaar numbers.“Linking with Aadhaar will help us reduce leakages in the transfer of funds to the beneficiary’s account... The biometric verification ensures that money is reaching the right person,” a senior official told ET. Rural development ministry has roped in Indian Banks’ Association along with 13 private sector banks for the exercise.So far 50% of the 10.7 crore active workers under NREGS have linked their bank accounts with the 12-digit Aadhaar identity. This year, the rural development ministry released Rs 23,443 crore — half the budgetary allocation under the scheme — to states in April to ensure there was adequate flow of funds and to avoid delays.The remaining amount is expected to be released to the states in September after the submission of a detailed audit report. The ministry has also been asked to upscale the National Electronic Fund Management System for direct fund transfers to beneficiaries’ accounts to all states.

Source: Times of India July 25, 2017 18:33 UTC